


In the Shadow of... Everyone Else

by raspberryhunter



Category: 18th Century CE Frederician RPF, 18th Century CE RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe as Art Therapy, Characters Writing Fanfiction, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28250496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberryhunter/pseuds/raspberryhunter
Summary: One of them is always forgotten. Even in fanfic.Or: in canon universe, Heinrich and Amalie argue about who would make a good regent in the RPF AU play that he is writing and Amalie is betaing.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 4
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2020





	In the Shadow of... Everyone Else

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Selena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selena/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Yet They Grind Exceedingly Small](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28069044) by [mildred_of_midgard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mildred_of_midgard/pseuds/mildred_of_midgard). 



> Thank you to my beta!
> 
> This is better read after [Yet They Grind Exceedingly Small](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28069044/chapters/68766201), although I tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

“Thanks for going over this with me,” Heinrich said to Amalie, holding out the script in his hand. “I know it’s late.”

Amalie yawned. “I don’t really see why I have to read through your play at such odd hours; couldn’t it wait until the morning?” She took the script from him and flipped through it. “Although maybe you don’t want our dear brother to know that you’ve been writing a play where the King of Prussia loses one of his battles which was in fact a triumph in real life, and then dies of an opium overdose, while the late King’s brother Heinrich is the --” her lips quirked, and she visibly changed what she was going to say -- “the regent for the new king who wins the war for him.”

Heinrich shrugged. If Fritz found out, he’d deal with it then. Meanwhile, it was true that he wasn’t exactly eager to have him find out. He reached over and turned the pages. “This scene was the one I wanted to go over with you -- it’s not quite finished, as you see.”

“Ha, I see it’s a scene between you and me, Amalie and Heinrich. There seem to be all sorts of intense things going on here. And, hm, you’re supposed to convince me why you should remain as the regent?” She peered at the pages in question, while Heinrich waited with poorly concealed impatience.

After a moment she raised her head from the page and looked off in the distance, tapping her fingers on her knee. Finally she said, “You know, if Fritz _were_ actually dead, would you be that irreplaceable as regent for little Friedrich Wilhelm? Why couldn't Luise be regent instead of you? She's actually Friedrich Wilhelm's mom, in fact, whereas you're just his uncle." Neither of them saw the other shadowy figure enter the room as she spoke.

"Be realistic, Amalie," Heinrich said, shaking his head. "I know you like Luise. I like her too. Everyone likes her. But as regent? She’d get crushed!"

Amalie sighed. "Fine, you have a point there. Well, what about me?” She grinned lopsidedly. “No one’s ever accused _me_ of being too nice. I'd do just as good a job as regent as you, I bet."

"What does this look like, Russia?" Heinrich demanded. "You know the regent couldn't be a woman!" He relented a little. "Maybe if you were the mother, not Luise... which doesn't even make any sense, of course."

"You're not refuting my point at all," Amalie noted, but didn't pursue this line any further. "Well, then, who else is there?"

This was an interesting question, actually, now that Heinrich thought about it. "Hmm. Ferdinand of Brunswick?"

If either of them heard a small sigh, they paid no attention to it. "No, surely not," Amalie objected. "Yes, all right, he'd be the future king's uncle. But he's not a Hohenzollern, so I don't think that would work at all. I mean, he's not even a Prussian!"

"Yeah, you're right." Heinrich frowned. "Surely there must be someone else." He riffled through a list of prominent Prussians in his mind, Hohenzollern cousins, courtiers and even generals; all of them came up wanting in some way or another.

Amalie frowned as well. "I'm coming up blank too. Well, that's probably enough for you to work with in the scene."

"Guys," a voice piped up, "I'm right here!"

Heinrich and Amalie looked around. "Oh, it's you, Ferdinand."

"I could be regent! I'm a Hohenzollern, you know! I'm your brother! And Fritz's, and Wilhelm's!"

Heinrich and Amalie blinked. "Oh. Yeah. I guess that's _true_ \--"

"Um, Ferdinand, how can I put this --"

"Never mind," Ferdinand said sulkily. "I'm going to bed."

**Author's Note:**

> The genesis of this ficlet was during the writing of _Yet They Grind Exceedingly Small_ , where the following exchange occurred between the writer of that fic and the alpha/beta:
> 
>  **Writer:** *writes about possible regents/commanders as alternatives to Heinrich, going all the way up to Seydlitz but missing Ferdinand*  
>  **Alpha/Beta:** *writes a suggestion line in fic mentioning Ferdinand*  
>  **Writer:** Ahahahaaa, Ferdinand, like EC, nobody even remembers he exists, certainly not yours truly.  
>  **Alpha/Beta:** I was wondering why Heinrich didn't list him as a possible [alternative]!  
>  **Writer:** Obviously he's not a possible [alternative], it would almost be funnier if he didn't occur to Heinrich or Amalie either. :P  
>  **Alpha/Beta:** ...I kind of want to write an outtake now...
> 
> ...and in this ficlet no one thought about Elisabeth Christine either. Sorry, EC!


End file.
